Gifting Health Gadgets this Holiday Season

The gifting season is almost over and there is a new year just around the corner. If you have health conscious people on your gift list, no worries, we are living in a time where health gadgets are everywhere. As a matter of fact, even many simple and affordable gifts that are pretty low tech will do the trick and can have an everlasting impact.

According to a recent blog from Baptist Health South Florida that I happen to agree with, the goal of many of these gadgets is to inspire and enable the person receiving the gifts to get active and achieve their goals.

Some of their recommendations include a water bottle, that’s inexpensive but thoughtful and definitely very useful. This morning I was invited to the Dr. Juan Show to talk about some health gadget gift ideas and I showed the Pryme Vessyl, a smart water cup that keeps track of your water intake and has an app that makes sure you stay hydrated throughout the day. The benefits of staying hydrated are many from more energy, improved metabolism to better skin so if the person you are gifting this is forgetful, the $99 cost of this intelligent cup is not exactly cheap but the health benefits may outweigh the price.

Another good and economical suggestion is a health app. There are definitely a bunch of those to choose from and there are many that I’ve tried and currently use. I think the secret for these apps to be successful and to be used continuously is for them to solve one specific problem. For example, I like to go biking and use the Runtastic Mountain Bike Pro app as a cycling log that keeps track of my location, speed and it even has a voice coach that keeps you on your toes. After I’m done, I can share my route on social media and compare it with friends to stay competitive.

My advice if you are gifting an app, be specific so if they want to have 6 pack abs, do better push-ups or improve their endurance, get an app just for that. Not sure what they are into? You can always send a virtual gift card or just buy one at the store.

Another gadget that I showed was the Kinsa Smart Thermometer, this is a great tech gift for new moms. Imagine keeping a log of all the temperature readings of the thermometer via the accompanying app and be able to share it with your doctor. Hopefully, the baby will never get sick but in the real world, the opposite is true, so this thermometer makes it pretty convenient for moms to log temperature readings for the younger members of the family.

Last but not least, just a simple set of headphones might do the trick. They also mention in the blog that studies have shown that listening to music while working out might make you work out longer and that’s pretty cool. I’m a pretty discerning headphone user and for some reason, my ears have a weird shape where no earbud has ever stayed put so I have to wear headphones with a band. If you are picking out headphones to exercise, make sure they are light and water resistant, with all the sweating in a good workout, you want them to be able to enjoy your thoughtful gift more than once.